Basic Professional French Cooking

Pâté Brisée

Tart Crust

Outline for Making Pâté Brisée


  1. -Weigh out and measure all ingredients

  2. -Place salt, water and eggs in a bowl and whisk together

  3. -Sift flour unto a work surface, Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the flour. Break up the pieces of butter with a pastry scraper or with your fingers until the pieces are smaller that a pea. (This is known as ‘Sabler’)

  4. -Add sugar to the flour and butter if making a sweet crust.Form a well in the dry ingredients and place the water and egg into the well. Combine the liquid and dry ingredients. As soon as a coarsely combined mass is obtained form it all into a ball. Do not overwork.

  5. -Place the dough in front of you and break off small walnut sized pieces. Crush them by pushing them away from you with the heel of your hand. This us known as ‘Fraiser’. It combines all of the ingredients in the dough without overworking the gluten in the flour.

  6. -Flatten the dough into a disk. Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling it out.


Rolling Out the Dough


  1. -Butter the inside of a tart ring.

  2. -Rollout the dough 1/8’ thick and about 2” larger that the tart ring. Roll it out as quickly and efficiently as possible, giving it quarter turns to keep it round.

  3. -Roll the dough up onto the pin and place it evenly over the ring. Press it in along the sides and the bottom of the ring.

  4. -Form a border by overlapping 1/4” of the dough to the inside of the ring, then roll off the excess pastry.

  5. -Stand the border up and form a decorative edge, being sure none of the edge extends over the ring or it will be difficult to remove the ring after baking.

  6. -Refrigerate the dough until very cold, then proceed according to the specific recipe.

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